1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protection device, and in particular to a device used to protect surfaces and structures on or related to an aircraft.
2. Related Art
Leading and trailing edge structures, as well as flight control surfaces, on high performance aircraft are designed to be very lightweight. Typically, these structures have skins as thin as 0.030″ thick, fabricated from aluminum or composite materials, and generally stiffened with very lightweight honeycomb internal core materials.
As a result, these structures are not robust beyond surviving in-flight air loadings. Maintenance to these aircraft structures are typically performed daily on the upper surfaces, so for access to the top of the aircraft, maintenance stands or ladders are positioned around the perimeter, resulting in induced damage in the form of dents, gouges, or delaminations.
Currently, some maintenance facilities apply padding to work-stands, ladders and the like, however, the typical padding used is not always positioned properly (height) and is not substantial enough to resist the typical impacts experienced during routine maintenance operations.
What is needed is an apparatus suitable for protecting exposed surfaces and structures on an aircraft, which is simple to make, lightweight and low cost.